US strikes kill Iraqi rebels

US jets tonight dropped laser-guided bombs on rebel positions in a village north-west of Baghdad, killing nine insurgents – five of them Syrians, the US military said.

The airstrike was launched after troops from the US 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment and the Iraqi 1st Division came under fire from three buildings in a village west of Haditha, 140 miles north-west of Baghdad, the military said.